King of the Hill/A Rover Runs Through It

A Rover Runs Through It
Season 9, Episode 1
Airdate	November 7, 2004
Production Number	8ABE22
Written by	Dan Sterling
Directed by	Tricia Garcia
← 8x22 Talking Shop	9x02 → Ms. Wakefield
King of the Hill — Season Nine

A Rover Runs Through It is the first episode of the ninth season of King of the Hill, and the one hundred seventy-second episode overall.

Starring: Mike Judge (Hank Hill), Kathy Najimy (Peggy Hill), Pamela S. Adlon (Bobby Hill, Little Girl), Brittany Murphy (credit only), Johnny Hardwick (Dale Gribble, Rental Guy), Stephen Root (Bill Dauterive, Doc Platter, Blake)

Special Guest Voice: Joanna Gleason (Maddy Platter)

Special Guest Voice: Henry Winkler (Himself)

Also Starring: David Herman (Rusty, Sgt. Higgs, Hollywood Type)

Plot Overview

The Hills visit the Platter Ranch when Peggy's mother invites her. However, instead of a reconciliation, Peggy learns that they're losing it because their new neighbour, Henry Winkler, won't let them use his trail.

Notes

Stinger Quote

Hank: Sven Grammersdorf?

Seen, But Not Heard

• Boomhauer

Arc Advancement

Characters

• It's established that the animosity between Peggy and her mother stems from Peggy not thinking anything she did was good enough. Despite her success in saving the ranch, it still isn't enough.

Trivia

The Show

• While earlier episodes had begun building a sour relationship between she and Peggy, this episode retcons some established aspects of her mother. In addition to her physical appearance, it's established now that the two haven't spoken in 20 years, contradicting earlier episodes like "I Remember Mono" and "The Hank's Giving Episode".

• The episode breaks the fourth wall during the closing credits by having Hank address the audience as he fly fishes with Henry Winkler.

Allusions and References

• The title of this episode is a play on the 1992 film A River Runs Through It, which Winkler references in his conversation with Hank.

• Upon seeing Henry Winkler, Peggy invokes the Happy Days character he's best known for playing, The Fonz.

Quotes

• Hank: Telemarketer?

Peggy: No. It was my mother.

Hank: Your mother? Wow. What's it been? 20 years?

Peggy: Mm-hmm.

Hank: Well, what'd she say?

Peggy: She wants us to come to the ranch this weekend.

Hank: In Montana?

Peggy: Mm-hmm.

Hank: Really?

Peggy: Do you think you could knock it off with all the personal questions, Hank?! All you ever do is grill me about my emotional life, pushing and prodding me to talk about my feelings! It's like living with Barbara freakin' Walters!

• Peggy: The nerve! She spends my whole childhood criticising me and my whole adulthood ignoring me. Now she wants me to visit? What for?

Hank: Well, I know it's unpleasant, but have you considered that she might be, uh, you know, dying?

Peggy: No chance. Dying is not her style. That would be a sign of weakness.

• Bill: I almost threw up once in Montana. I made it to Idaho.

Dale: Making it out of the car would have been the real accomplishment.

• Blake: You got any more questions, Stevie Spielberg?

Hank: Dang it, I am not Steven Spielberg.

Blake: Well, I respectfully disagree.

• Henry Winkler: That's why I fish.

Hank: Well, hey, I fish, too!

Henry Winkler: Then you understand. You know, I always say that fishing is like a washing machine for your brain. It's so deliciously Zen.

Hank: Uh, I think I might do a different kind of fishing.

• Hank: Hello there. Mister Winkler here would like you to know that it was always his intention to let the Platters' cattle use his trail. Because cattle, like jazz music, feed the soul of America. And that, uh, if all the leaders of the world would just fish together, the planet would live in harmony.

Henry Winkler: Thank you, Hank.